Can't Look Away by Donna Cooner

Pages: 265
Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens
Genre: Real life / Grief
Notes for Parents: Deals with death, grief.

The Back Cover

Torrey Grey is famous. At least, on the Internet. Thousands of people watch her videos on fashion and beauty. But when Torrey’s sister is killed in an accident—maybe because of Torrey and her videos—Torrey’s perfect world implodes.
Now, strangers online are bashing Torrey. And at her new school, she doesn’t know who to trust. Is queen-bee Blair only interested in Torrey’s infamy? What about Raylene, who is unpopular, but seems to accept Torrey for who she is? And then there’s Luis, with his brooding dark eyes, whose family runs the local funeral home. Torrey finds herself drawn to Luis, and his fascinating stories about el Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
As the Day of the Dead draws near, Torrey will have to really look at her own feelings about death, and life, and everything in between. Can she learn to mourn her sister out of the public eye?

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the author’s second book for teens.

What’s good?

Revealing flashbacks, a realistic romance, and a premise relevant to today’s social media-savvy teens makes this story about a grieving vlogger an engaging and ultimately heartwarming story. The writing is smooth with good transitions and an even pace. The plot is simple but emotional. There are great supporting characters, like cousin Raylene, Luis the undertaker’s son, and Mrs. Annie Florence. Using recollections of her sister, and a gently developing romance, we witness the main character, Torrey, change from a shallow, self-involved teen, to someone more introspective and mature. I loved the use of el Día de los Muertos traditions as a tool for Torrey to explore her grief.
Best Part: Sugar skulls and the socks with socks.

What isn’t good?

The main character is tough to take. Torrey is shallow and materialistic, clearly seeking popularity over real friendship. Though I felt she matured by the end, she never completely loses that egocentrism and this may turn off many readers. The story itself lacks movement. There’s not a lot of action and most of the good stuff comes at the end. Also, the mean girls are total clichés. It’s difficult to understand why Torrey—as shallow and self-centered as she is—would even want to be seen with them.
Worst part: Blair.

Recommendation þþþoo

By the end, this was an uplifting story about a popular online beauty blogger who is suddenly forced to deal with a life-altering tragedy. It’s tough to watch her struggle. Her identity was so wrapped up in being Beautystarz15—posting “haul videos,” checking view statistics, giving make-up tutorials—that she really doesn’t know how to deal in the real world. It’s a nice story about dealing with grief. Recommended.

Cooner, Donna. Can’t Look Away. New York: Point, 2014.